


Now After Loving Me Late at Night

by mcgarrygirl78



Series: When We're Together [13]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Drama, F/M, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-05
Updated: 2014-10-05
Packaged: 2018-02-20 01:28:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2410031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A wicked smile crossed Erin’s lips as she thought about her hands around his neck, squeezing the life from him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Now After Loving Me Late at Night

**Author's Note:**

> 3/29/2011 It was written for the alphabet meme and [](http://sipman.livejournal.com/profile)[**sipman**](http://sipman.livejournal.com/)’s prompt of **T is for tea (the morning after)**. It’s not quite the morning after, but close enough. The title is from the Barbra Streisand song, _You Don’t Bring Me Flowers_. This can be seen as a follow up to [If Morning Echoes Say We’ve Sinned](http://community.livejournal.com/lairofthemuses/84544.html#cutid1) and [I Know Who I Want to Take Me Home](http://community.livejournal.com/lairofthemuses/51494.html#cutid1).

She was distracted. It was a feeling she hated and didn’t experience very often. Maybe it wasn’t the feeling she hated per se, but the things that usually distracted her. This time it was a man and it had been a long time since she could say something like that. If she let her mind travel back far enough in time, a dangerous prospect, it was the same damn man that distracted her now as the last time. Distractions were dangerous, especially in her line of work.

It was a Monday late morning; Erin had been in meetings since 8am. Now she was trying to take a deep breath in her office before more meetings in the afternoon. They would supply lunch so she didn’t have to worry about that. She would have to bring the Motrin herself. Her tea was cold. She wanted to drink it but her mind wandered far away from her office.

How much time had gone by, Erin wasn’t entirely sure? How could she still be tingling over 24 hours later? It hadn't gone away, or even faded, it only seemed to intensify. She could feel it in the tips of her toes and the pit of her stomach. She felt it in the roots of her hair and the small of her back. It covered her arms and thighs and hips like the pricklies her son used to say he had when body parts fell asleep from leaning on them for too long.

But her feelings, the pricklies, had nothing to do with sleep. They had to do with sex. With hot, fast, hard sex, and slow, sensuous, rhythmic sex. Erin Strauss probably hadn't had sex on the brain since…OK, maybe she never really had. Not everyone spent their time thinking about such things. Except now she couldn’t stop thinking about it.

There were times in the past few hours, as colleagues droned on and on in meetings, that she was sure she moaned aloud. How could she not have? She still felt him, on her, inside her, and all around her. He was a son of a bitch. She’d find a way to get him back for this. It had probably been his plan all along; this was payback.

He surely owed her for something, as she owed him for plenty. But she let her guard down, let passion overwhelm her like a wanton teenage girl. And now she was trapped. Oh my God, she was going to kill him. A wicked smile crossed Erin’s lips as she thought about her hands around his neck, squeezing the life from him. Suddenly, he had his hands on her wrists, removing them from his neck, tussling with her on the bed, kissing her, touching, oh God, oh yes, mmm…fuck!

Fuck, fuck, fuck, are you serious? Had she been reduced to this? And her tea was cold. All she wanted was a nice cup of tea and a few moments inside her mind and away from the fray. But he invaded her mind; she couldn’t even escape there. He was going to pay for this like he wouldn’t even believe.

The knock on her door brought her out of her thoughts. Erin said come in, her assistant walked in with a huge vase.

“You’ve got flowers, ma'am.”

Tim McPherson was smiling. He smiled a lot, which most people found strange since they assumed working for a dragon lady like Erin Strauss could wear down even the world’s nicest person. She liked Tim, brought him along when she was named Section Chief five years ago and moved from Washington to Quantico. Now he was bringing her flowers.

“What?” Erin asked, not sure she heard him right though she saw what he was carrying.

“You got flowers delivered and they’re lovely.” Tim said. “Here’s the card.”

He pulled the small envelope from the roses, two dozen peach, and handed it to Erin. Tim wanted to know if there was anything else he could do for her.

“Please heat my tea.” She gave him the cup.

“Yes ma'am. The Assistant Deputy will be here in 30 minutes. I did manage to squeeze you in 45 minutes for lunch after that. Staff thinks you'll be at a doctor’s appointment so no one will disturb you.”

“Seriously?” Erin managed a smile.

“Yes ma'am.” Tim nodded.

“I truly adore you. I probably don’t say that enough but its true, Tim. You're good to me.”

“It’s my job to take care of you, ma'am. I’ll heat your tea.”

“Thanks.”

She opened the envelope as he walked out of the room and closed the door. Erin wasn’t surprised to see who they were from. She wondered how he would feel if she set them on fire and sent them back. The card simply said ‘ _so beautiful but the thorns are dangerous_ ’. He was the only thorn right now and he knew it. Against her better judgment, Erin dialed his number on her phone. Tim came back with the tea, put it on her desk, and left again.

“Hello there.”

“The roses are beautiful.” She said.

“I remember peach being your favorite.” Dave replied.

“You really shouldn’t have.”

“I wanted to.”

“I wish you wouldn’t have.”

“Why?” he asked.

“Look, what happened between us…” Erin sighed.

“I was hoping I could see you again.”

“That’s a bad idea.”

“Why?”

“Stop asking me that. You know why.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Neither one of us needs history to repeat itself. You claim you're here for different reasons and I respect that. I don’t want to call it a mistake but its just shouldn’t have happened. I have so much going on right now. What happened the other night was a one time deal.”

“So I can't take you to dinner. Even better, let me make you dinner.”

“I'm not hungry.” She replied.

“Of course you're not hungry now but you will be eventually.” Dave said. “I’ll make you whatever you want.”

“It’s not a good idea. You know its not but you're going for it anyway. Why? So you can say you did? So you can tell everyone you got me to put my guard down and then paid me back for whatever real or perceived injustices I kicked you in the nuts for in the past.”

“That must suck.”

“What are you talking about?” Erin asked.

“Believing everyone has an ulterior motive. It’s a shame you can't believe a man wants to be with you because you're fun to be with, or because you smell good. Damn woman, you really smell good.”

“Don’t you dare try and guilt me into…”

“I'm not doing anything of the sort. I bought you the flowers because they were pretty. I invited you for dinner because I wanted to spend time with you. And believe it or not, I made love to you because I wanted you. Don’t question my motives; question your own all you want. But how about this…you invited me to the dinner, you invited me inside, and you kissed me first. We’re not in 5th grade; you don’t have to punch the boy you're attracted to. All you have to do is open your mouth and admit it.”

“Oh my God,” Erin laughed as she sipped her tea. “I am not attracted to you. Nothing could be further from the truth.”

“Why don’t you say it to my face then? I was thinking over dinner.”

“I don’t have time to dance around with you.”

“Ooh, dancing.” Dave laughed. “Yes, OK, you’ve twisted my arm. Dinner and dancing it is.”

She almost said his name but bit her tongue. This office was bugged; every federal office was Erin was sure of it. No one needed to know who she was talking to right now. The ice she skated on was already thin enough.

“I have to go. My schedule is insane today and I don’t have time for this.”

“Then just say yes. Say yes and you'll be rid of me.”

“It doesn’t work that way.” she said. You can't blackmail me into spending time with you.”

“One dinner…and the clothes stay on.” Dave replied. “I won't even touch you. We’ll just have a nice dinner. If you're right about me, prove yourself right. You'll get a nice meal and a victory lap. What do you have to lose? It’s not blackmail…it’s a challenge. You like challenges, right?”

“Yes, but I don’t like you.” Erin said.

“I'm always comfortable when things don’t change.”

Erin knew he was grinning and she wanted to wipe the smug look from his face. She also wanted to kiss him, which made her want to wipe that smug look even more.

“Fine, I’ll do this and prove myself right. When and where?”

“We'll meet on Tuesday evening, if I'm in town; my place. I’ll make anything you want.”

“Surprise me.” she replied.

“I don’t think that will be a problem. Did you really like the flowers?”

“I said they were beautiful.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“Don’t push it.”

“I'm good at pushing it.” he said.

Boy, did she know it. Erin tingled just hearing him say it. What a bastard.

“I liked them; you remembered that peach are my favorite.”

“It doesn’t surprise me that the rare beauties always capture your eye. Erin…”

“I’ll see you Tuesday evening…if you're in town.”

“I appreciate being given this chance.”

“Goodbye.”

Erin hung up the phone. The damn tingling wasn’t going anywhere. She couldn’t do this; it was going to end badly. She was still dealing with Eli and had no idea how that would end. Erin didn’t need anything else at the moment. But that was how it always went. When it rained it poured. David Rossi was back in the FBI, back in her life, and she had no umbrella. Erin Strauss was soaked to the skin.

***

  



End file.
